Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Broken headstone carved with a crown recovered during a 1989 renovation of a building in Konin county, Poland. The tombstones, from the desecrated Turek Jewish cemetery, were broken and used as paving stones for the courtyard of the local headquarters for Organization Todt. This sandstone marker was mass produced in the late 19th century. Poland was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1939. Hundreds of Jewish men from Turek were taken as forced laborers. By January, all Jewish property was confiscated and the remaining Jews were confined to a ghetto. The synagogue was set on fire and destroyed. In October 1941, the ghetto was liquidated and Turek was Judenfrei (free of Jews.) Organization Todt was in charge of road and large scale construction projects, such as factories and fortifications, for the German Reich. By the early 1940s, it controlled over a million workers, slave laborers, war prisoners, and camp inmates.
- Date
-
creation:
approximately 1850-1899
recovered: 1989
use: after 1939 September
- Geography
-
use:
Jewish cemetery;
Turek (Poland)
use: Organization Todt local headquarters; Konin (Poland : Powiat)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Muzeum Okręgowe w Koninie
Physical Details
- Language
- Hebrew
- Classification
-
Jewish Art and Symbolism
- Category
-
Jewish ceremonial objects
- Object Type
-
Jewish sepulchral monuments (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Top section of a broken, large, narrow, rectangular, gray sandstone grave marker with an ornate, carved design of a balustrade enclosing an imperial crown on a smooth, recessed background with remnants of blue paint, beneath an archway. There is Hebrew text in a band above the arch and a band of beaded stones along the bottom. The arch is supported by four rails with the Hebrew letter nun [Here] on the right and peh [Lies] on the left. Below is a rectangular plaque with a floral scalloped embellishment in the top center and 3 lines of Hebrew text, a biblical quote, broken off at an angle on the right side. The bottom edge is broken and uneven.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 29.375 inches (74.613 cm) | Width: 24.500 inches (62.23 cm) | Depth: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm)
- Materials
- overall : sandstone, paint
- Inscription
- front, lower edge, engraved : Hebrew text [? a sweet man went on a trip to see angels]
front, center, carved : Hebrew [nun peh; po nikbar, Here Lies]
front, upper edge, engraved : Hebrew text [And Jacob went on his way, and Angels of God met him.]
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Turek. Jewish cemeteries--Desecration--Poland--Turek--History--20th century. Jewish cemeteries--Destruction and pillage--Poland--Turek. Offenses against religion--Poland--Turek--History--20th century. World War, 1939-1945--Cemeteries--Desecration--Poland--Turek. World War, 1939-1945--Cemeteries--Destruction and pillage--Poland--Greece.
- Geographic Name
- Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The tombstone fragment was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990 by the Muzeum Okregowego W Koninie.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2022-07-28 18:21:24
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn3506
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The collection consists of two paintings from the Kolo synagogue and six tombstone fragments from the Turek Jewish cemetary.
Desecrated, broken tombstone with carved hands symbol from Turek Jewish cemetery
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Broken headstone carved with a bookshelf filled with books, indicating the final resting place of a scholar, recovered during a 1989 renovation of a building in Konin county, Poland. The tombstones, from the desecrated Turek Jewish cemetery, were broken and used as paving stones for the courtyard of the local headquarters for Organization Todt. This sandstone marker was mass produced in the late 19th century. Poland was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1939. Hundreds of Jewish men from Turek were taken as forced laborers. By January, all Jewish property was confiscated and the remaining Jews were confined to a ghetto. The synagogue was set on fire and destroyed. In October 1941, the ghetto was liquidated and Turek was Judenfrei (free of Jews.) Organization Todt was in charge of road and large scale construction projects, such as factories and fortifications, for the German Reich. By the early 1940s, it controlled over a million workers, slave laborers, war prisoners, and camp inmates.
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